The Only One
by GOST
Summary: Jane tries to set up Trent and Daria, but she finds it to be a lost cause on Trent's part until Trent surprises everyone at a Mystik Sprial concert.
1. Default Chapter

DISCLAIMER: the characters of Daria, Jane and Trent (sadly) do not belong to us. Don't sue us or anything dumb like that. But please do enjoy the Fic ^_^ --GOST  
  
  
The Only One  
  
By GOST  
  
  
"Trent...?"  
"Yeah Daria?"  
Daria looked down nervously. She played with the hem of her skirt as she sat on the sofa next to Trent. Glancing behind her towards the door to the kitchen, Daria suddenly noticed Trent's arm casually draped across the back of the sofa, dangerously close to her own shoulder.   
"Um, well..." she stammered. This was so hard. Daria wanted more than anything to tell Trent how she felt about him, but every time she tried she either blushed like crazy or was somehow inter-  
"Caffeine and artificial flavors for all!" Jane announced, returning from the kitchen with their Cokes. She paused a moment when she saw the look on Daria's face, then handed one of the drinks to Trent.  
"Thanks, Janey."  
"Sure. Here you go, Daria." As she handed the drink over she raised a questioning eyebrow and Daria responded with a death glare. Wincing, Jane sat down on the sofa and resolved to interrogate Daria later. Maybe it hadn't been such a great idea leaving those two alone, even if it was just for a few commercials.  
Soon the show was over and they switched off the television. Trent stood to leave the room.  
"Time to turn in, eh Trent?" Jane asked.  
"No way. Night is when I hit my prime. Creatively, that is."  
"Well don't stay up too late, Sport, or you won't be able to wake up in time for lunch," Jane teased. Trent left the room and Jane turned to Daria.  
"Well?!"  
"Um...." Daria said, glancing away.  
"Come on Daria, I saw that look on your face when I came back in. You were gonna tell him, weren't you?"  
"I was going to try..."  
"I'm kinda sorry I walked in on you. I'll try to make it up to you, okay?"  
"Knowing you, Jane, I'm not sure I'll appreciate your efforts."  
"Hey! Give me a chance. You just might like what you see."  
"Um, okay. Can we turn in now? I'm kinda beat."  
"Sure," said Jane and they headed up to her room.  
  
  
When Daria awoke the next morning, she was alone in Jane's room. She groped for her glasses and put them on, then looked at the clock. Almost noon. She had slept longer than she thought, and Jane had probably been up a while. She started to climb out of her sleeping bag, but was startled by the bedroom door opening. There stood Trent, rubbing his eyes and wearing nothing but his grey boxer shorts. His hair was tousled from sleep and his slender body was slightly backlit from the hall. His posture was even more apparent without his shirt on, the hips-forward slouch that so defined him.  
"Janey, what did you do with my clothes?" Trent asked.  
Daria let out an "eep!" and dove back into her sleeping bag.  
"Whoa, sorry Daria," said Trent, backing out of the room.   
As Daria peeked back out she heard Jane's voice from downstairs: "I took the opportunity of washing them, Trent! It seemed like it would never happen if I didn't steal them while you were unconscious."  
The bedroom door once again closed, Daria got up and dressed. She couldn't get Trent out her mind, though, guilty as it made her. "Hmm," she thought, "I never knew he had a tattoo on his leg. And wow...he looked pretty good in just boxers. Hell, I wonder what he'd look like without..." Here Daria severed her train of thought. She shook her head and went down to get some breakfast.   
  
  
"'Morning, Jane," Daria said as she sat down and blearily poured herself some cereal.  
"'Morning, Daria," Jane said as she carried a load of laundry across the kitchen.   
Daria looked across the table at Trent, who she was surprised to find still hadn't located his clothing. He lounged in a chair opposite her, looking strangely relaxed despite the fact that he was wearing only boxer shorts. He had one tattooed arm thrown over the back of the chair, his legs resting apart over the front and side of the seat.  
"Janey had to wash my clothes," said Trent by way of explanation.  
Daria looked over to where Jane was folding laundry. Jane gave her a knowing wink and Daria blushed bright red. Pointedly looking only at her cereal, Daria finished her breakfast without a word.   
"Alright Trent, your clothes are clean. By the way, you might wash them occasionally yourself, or maybe change your clothes...well, I shouldn't be talking," she said as she looked down at her own uniform of red jacket and black shorts.  
"Thanks, Janey...wow, they smell really....weird."  
"Yes Trent, that's the fresh morning scent of not you."  
Trent trudged back to his room carrying his load of laundry and Jane sat down in the chair he had vacated.  
"Well...?" she said expectantly.  
"Well what?" asked Daria.  
"Nice, no? Subtle, effective, etc?"  
"You actually planned for Trent to walk around me all morning with no clothes on?"  
"Oui!!"  
Daria paused a moment in frank disbelief.   
"As enjoyable as the eye candy was, I don't see how this helped me to to tell Trent how I feel about him. If anything I'm even more intimidated."  
"Have no fear, Morgendorffer. This is only the beginning."  
Daria wasn't quite sure what to expect.  



	2. The Only One (Part II)

  
The Only One  
(Part II)  
  
By GOST  
  
  
"Dammit, Jane!" thought Daria as she looked at the empty seat next to her. Jane was convieniently absent from school on a day that a joint assignment was due, and Jane had their whole paper at her house.   
"I'm very much looking forward to reading your fiction assignments. I hope that working with a partner didn't create any awkward writing situations," Mr. O'Neill said as he started around the room to collect papers. Daria slid down in her seat. Mr. O'Neill approached her desk. "So Daria, where's Jane today? Weren't you two working on this project together?"  
"Yes, but apparently she was struck down with a severe case of the Mongolian flu," said Daria, trying to somehow buy time. Mr O'Neill's brow furrowed.  
"Oh dear!" he gasped. "I hope she's alright."  
Just then heads turned as the classroom door was quietly opened a crack. A familiar spiky head poked through the opening and Daria had the urge to slide down even farther in her chair.  
"Is uh....Daria Morgendorffer in here?" Trent asked.  
"Yes, young man, she's right here," said Mr. O'Neill.   
"Can I see her for a second?" Trent requested. Mr O'Neill glanced at Daria nervously.  
"I think this may be about that paper we were talking about," said Daria. "Could be kind of important."  
"Go ahead, then..." said Mr. O'Neill.   
Daria stood and joined Trent in the hall. "Hey Trent."  
"Hey Daria. Thank God I found you. That was the third classroom I tried."  
Daria involuntarily slapped her hand to her forehead. "Oh jeez..."  
"Well, here you are. It's from Janey. I hope I got it to you on time," Trent pulled a folded paper from his back pocket and handed it to Daria.   
"Miracles do happen," said Daria as she looked over the paper. Thankfully, it was the assignment that was due. "Thanks Trent, you saved us."  
"No problem," said Trent.  
"What's wrong with Jane anyway?" asked Daria.   
"I don't know, she said something about inexplicable pains."  
"Maybe an impending math quiz was stabbing her spleen."  
Trent began to laugh but it quickly dissolved into a hacking cough. "You're funny, Daria. I like that."  
There was a moment of silence, then Trent put his hands in his pockets. "Well, I better get going. I'll see you around."  
Daria turned and walked back into the classroom, placing the paper in Mr. O'Neill's hands. As she sat down, Brittany leaned over and squeaked, "Daria! Was that your boooyfriend?"  
Daria slouched down in her seat once again. It looked like it was going to be one of those days.  
  
  
When she got home Daria immediately went up to her room and switched on "Sick, Sad World". Somehow, Fish Brain Robots didn't seem very interesting to her today. She lounged on her bed, daydreaming a little, until the jarring ringing of the phone startled her out of her reverie.  
"You've reached the winter of our discontent," Daria said in a monotone. Jane's perky voice greeted her on the other end.  
"So my girl, did you enjoy your little visit today?"  
"I had a feeling that was no Mongolian Flu," said Daria.  
"Hardly," said Jane. "But hey, we artists appreciate a mental health day now and then. You got the paper, I trust?"  
"Yeah, thanks for getting it to me. But really, Jane, if you think that somehow having Trent be my delivery boy will bring us closer..."  
"Have patience, my dear Daria, have patience! You have not yet witnessed the extent of my influence!"  
"If you say so..." said Daria.  
"Speaking of which, could you come over tomorrow night? I thought we could hang out and watch movies."  
"Alright, promise you'll get Kafka?"  
"Anything you like. I'll stop by the rental place, and I'll meet you at my house at 7:00."  
"See you then," Daria said.   
  
  
Daria headed over to Jane's house at the prescribed time, and when she got there she was unsurprised to find herself greeted by Trent.  
"Hey, Daria. Janey's not here yet. Come on in."  
"Um, thanks Trent. Do you mind if I get a soda?"  
"Go ahead," said Trent, closing the door behind her. Daria walked towards the kitchen, but was startled to hear Trent following her. She stopped and turned to look at him questioningly. He stopped too, and looked nonchalantly at the ceiling. Unfazed, she got her soda and began to walk to the TV room. Trent followed her.  
"Can I help you?" asked Daria, turning to face him once more.   
"I...um..." Trent mumbled. "Now this is weird," thought Daria. "What could Jane have possibly have pulled....?"  
"Yes?" Daria asked Trent expectantly.  
"Well Daria, I read that paper that I took to you today. I hope you don't mind."  
"Um...should I? It was just a fiction assignment for school." Daria was nervously wondering where this conversation was going.   
"Well, Janey told me that you wrote most of it, and I really liked it. It spoke to me, man."  
"Uh, thanks?"  
"Yeah, well, I was wondering if maybe you could help me out. See, I'm kinda stuck in this song that I'm writing..."  
"How did Jane put you up to this one?" asked Daria, sure that Jane's "influence" was all over Trent's bizarre request.  
"Huh?" Trent looked genuinely confused.  
"You mean...Jane didn't ask you to ask me to help you?"  
"No way, man, I've barely even seen her today."  
Daria was truly surprised. It seemed too good to be true that Trent would want to talk to her, let alone ask her to help him with a song.  
"Well, what do you have so far?"  
"It's pretty good, but it really needs something. Here goes:  
  
'Love's always seemed so hard to find  
I felt like I was goin' outta my mind  
You'll never know how hard it's been  
To have looked at you and never seen  
There's no one quite like you  
All I need is to get a clue  
Although I've hunted and hunted--'  
  
"You're the one I've always wanted," said Daria quietly.  
"What?" said Trent, looking up at her.  
"It's not a true rhyme, it's a bit of a slant rhyme, you know, "hunted/wanted", but it works."  
"Yeah," said Trent softly. "Yeah! 'You're the one I've always wanted'. Thanks, Daria."  
"No problem," Daria said.  
  



	3. The Only One (Part III)

  
The Only One  
(Part III)  
  
By GOST  
  
  
Just then Jane burst through the front door.   
"Kafka, anyone?" she called to them. Daria started and stood up quickly.  
"Nah," said Trent. He too stood up and headed up the stairs. "I gotta leave now and finish this song, while I'm still inspired."  
"Playing the muse, are we Daria?" Jane said with a knowing glance in Daria's direction. Daria was embarrassed to blush again.   
Once Trent was safely out of earshot, Daria turned to Jane.  
"You sure you didn't ask him to ask me about that song?" she asked tentatively.  
"Absolutely. I was beginning to give up on the whole throwing you two together thing anyways. But now that you ask....tell me what happened!"  
"Well, I told him how I feel."  
"Daria Morgendorffer, you astound me."  
"But I don't think it registered."  
"You never know, sometimes Trent is a lot more perceptive than I give him credit for. You cleverly disguised your admission in song lyrics, I'm assuming?"  
"Sorta."  
"Hmm, well, we'll see where this takes us. Meantime...let's watch freaky movies!"  
Jane put the tape in the VCR and for a while at least, Daria forgot all about Trent.  
  
  
Later that night, Jane crept down the hall to Trent's room and cautiously opened the door.   
"Still awake?" she asked quietly.  
"Yeah, Janey, what is it?" Trent asked. He was on his bed with his crumpled notepad full of songs balanced on his knees. Jane carefully avoided his piled clothes and duck telephone as she made her way over to him.  
"How is that song coming?" Jane asked as she sat down at the foot of the bed.  
"Amazing. This is a really good one, I can tell."  
"Daria said you asked her for some help."  
"I couldn't have written it without her."  
"That one line helped that much, huh?"  
"No, not just that. I mean, the whole song really has a lot to do with her."  
"Really?" Jane asked, an eyebrow raised. "Can I see it?"  
"Sure," Trent said, handing her the book carefully folded so she couldn't read any other songs in progress. After taking a quick look over it, Jane handed it back, eyes narrowed.  
"I must admit, I expected a song about Daria to be more along the lines of, 'she's pretty cynical, her depression might be clinical'."  
"C'mon, Janey, there's a lot more to her than that."  
"So I see you've realized."  
There was a long silence. Finally Trent broke the pause by putting down his pencil and notebook.  
"Janey?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Is there....could I....does...?" Trent stopped for a moment. "I've got to ask you, do I even have a chance with Daria?"  
  



	4. The Only One (Part IV)

  
The Only One  
(Part IV)  
  
By GOST  
  
  
After English on Friday Jane followed Daria to her locker.  
"Got any plans yet for tonight?" Jane asked.  
"Not unless my agent calls me with a last-minute drug deal," Daria replied.  
"Great!" said Jane. "There's a Mystik Spiral concert tonight and Trent said it would be cool if you could come. I was going anyway to help out with the equipment."  
"Don't you mean, you'd think it was cool if Trent said it would be cool if I could come?"  
"Trust me, Daria, he really said it! Who knows, you might nab him yet!"  
"Uh huh..."  
"Well, come, ok? You won't regret it."  
"Alright, come pick me up?"  
"Sure thing, you can ride in style in the Tank."  
"...If we make it there in one piece."  
  
  
That night the Morgendorffer's doorbell rang and Quinn rushed to answer it. She flung the door open only to be disappointed by Jane and Trent standing on the doorstep.  
"Oh! It's you," Quinn said blandly.  
"Your date's late, huh? He must be losing brownie points by the second," Jane replied.  
Quinn huffed angrily and stalked off, leaving the door open to Jane and Trent. They came in and closed it behind them.  
"Daria!" yelled Jane up the stairs.  
Daria emerged from her room and joined them, wearing, of course, her usual green jacket and black skirt.  
"Hey Daria," said Trent. "You uh...look nice tonight."  
Daria gave Jane a pointed look, then looked at Trent, who had averted his gaze. Daria stared at Trent for a moment, and Trent shuffled his feet nervously. Jane let out an involuntary giggle.   
"Um, thanks," Daria said hurriedly. She practically lunged for the door. "Let's get out of here."  
  
  
Sitting at the bar of the club where Mystik Spiral was playing, Daria was unusually silent. Jane, having finished her work as roadie, joined Daria and ordered herself a Coke.  
"Why so glum?" Jane asked, noticing Daria's furrowed brow and despairing countenance.  
"Will you tell me what the hell has been going on?" Daria said. "I mean, the whole boxers thing I can understand being your doing, but Trent has been acting really, really weird."  
"Did you ever consider the possibility that he might actually like you?"  
"No."  
"Sure you did," Jane said teasingly. "Otherwise I wouldn't have caught you daydreaming so often."  
"Okay, you got me there. But I'm really confused, Trent just isn't acting like himself."  
"Daria, no offense intended, but you're being really dense." Daria coughed derisively. Jane continued: "Listen Daria, there is one thing I've learned from my attempts to push Trent towards you."  
"What's that?"  
"He didn't need to be pushed at all."  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Daria started to ask, but just then the lights dimmed and the stage was lit. Trent walked to the front of the stage and the sheer decibal value of his first chord drowned out any reply Jane might have made.  
"Hi everyone," Trent spoke into the microphone over his lasting guitar chord. "We're the band you're about to hear. Mystik Spiral. But I don't know, we might change the name."  
Max started in with the first beats of the drum and the band charged into a rousing rendition of "Icebox Woman". The audience loved it, and the club was filled with cheers. As the last beat faded out, Trent once again stepped up to the mike.   
"Okay, it's time to slow things down just a little. This is a brand new song. Writing a song is a lot like living your life - sometimes the right thing just comes along and completes it perfectly. For me, the thing that completed both was a very special girl named Daria. So Daria, this one's for you."  
Trent leaned back from the mike, closed his eyes and strummed his guitar, a gentle chord that filled the room. Then he leaned forward and began to sing.  
"Love's always seemed so hard to find  
I felt like I was goin' outta my mind  
You'll never know how hard it's been  
To have looked at you and never seen..."  
  
Jane looked beside her to see how Daria had reacted to this. Daria, however, was nowhere to be found.   
As soon as the short song was over Trent slid his guitar off of his shoulder. "We'll be back after a short break," he told the crowd. "We're Mystik Spiral."  
He climbed off the stage and shielded his eyes against the bright spotlights. He could see Jane at the bar, but Daria wasn't with her.  
"Janey, where's Daria?" he asked, anxiousness apparent in his usually relaxed voice.  
"I don't know, Trent. She said something about being confused about you before you started your set, and then by the time you got into that song she was gone."  
"Oh, man. Janey, I didn't screw this up, did I?"  
"I hope not, Trent," Jane said matter-of-factly.  
"What should I do?" he asked.  
"Clear up any confusion, I should think," replied Jane.  
  
  
Trent finally found Daria on a bench not too far from the club. She was sitting quietly, probably unsure of what to do with herself. Trent came up behind her and sat next to her on the bench.  
"Hi Daria," he said, looking at the street.  
"Hi, Trent," she replied.  
"Listen Daria, I hope I didn't embarrass you or anything up there. I just wanted to give credit where credit was due."  
"Think nothing of it."  
There was a moment of silence. Daria was strangely aware of her hands in her lap and moved them nervously. Trent moved a little closer to her on the bench and slowly put his arm along the back, his hand close to her shoulder. They stayed that way for a minute, each very aware of the space between them.  
"Daria...?"  
"Yeah Trent?"  
"I...uh...I haven't been making you feel uncomfortable, have I? Coming around to see you all the time?"  
Daria looked at Trent, and he turned to her. He could see that her eyes were clear and steady behind her glasses. "No."  
Trent decided it was time to take the plunge.  
"Daria, I know you don't think of me as any kind of person you should be with. I mean, I'm a slacker, and I used to date girls just because of the image they would give me, and I don't know what's going on half the time..."  
"Shut up, Trent," Daria interrupted.  
"Huh?"  
To Trent's surprise, she leaned towards him and kissed him lightly on the cheek. He flushed a little. After another moment of silence, Trent looked Daria in the eye.  
"Daria, I think I love you."  
"Are you sure Jane didn't put you up to this?" Daria said suspiciously, still not quite believing her ears.   
"Absolutely. Daria, you're an amazing girl. I can't believe what an idiot I was not to see it all along."  
"Trent?"  
"Yeah?"  
"I think I love you too."  
Trent leaned closer to Daria, his hand moving to close around hers. She felt his free arm encircle her and she leaned her head towards his. As their lips touched, it felt as though a bolt of energy sparked between them and Daria couldn't help but think "My God, I'm kissing Trent....I really am." It felt as though the kiss would last forever, sweet and perfect.  
"Yayyy!!" came a voice from behind them. They pulled apart and turned to see Jane grinning ear to ear, hands clasped in mock congratulation. Daria began to blush again. She wondered how long it would take her to get over that.  
  
  
  
  
Note from GOST: Well, that's over with. Hope you Daria/Trent fans enjoyed it. ^_^ Please please please review! We're pretty new at this, so feedback is much appreciated!  
  
Check out our other fics too if you get the chance ^_^.   



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